


Corresponding Angles

by blueraccoon



Series: Geometry [9]
Category: NCIS
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-10
Updated: 2007-04-10
Packaged: 2017-10-12 23:19:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueraccoon/pseuds/blueraccoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He said he'd be in touch by Monday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Corresponding Angles

**Author's Note:**

> This started as the epilogue to a different (now-scrapped) fic and grew teeth. Next in the [Geometry](http://blueraccoon.livejournal.com/tag/geometry) series.

**Monday**

"So I've got this case coming up," Tony said, lying next to David. "Big thing, I can't really talk about it, but I'm going to be out of touch starting tomorrow."

David rolled onto his side, propping himself up on an elbow. "When will you be back?" he asked.

Tony shrugged. "Not sure. Hopefully by Friday, probably Saturday. Definitely Monday at the outside, though. I'll give you a call once I'm back." He leaned over and kissed David.

"Okay." David kissed him back. He couldn't help but wonder if Tony got the undercover cases because he was still single, no dependents, no one to worry about him.

Not like he'd ever know differently, but it still made him curious.

 **Saturday**

Still no word from Tony. David made plans to go out that evening with friends from the symphony and figured Tony just wasn't back yet. He'd probably be home by Monday. And it wasn't like he'd have gone out with them anyway, so it was almost just as well.

 **Tuesday**

Okay, now David was starting to get worried. He'd tried calling Tony, both his cell and home, and had gotten no answer. He wasn't about to drop by Tony's building, but he wasn't sure what else he _could_ do, other than wait. "Great," he said, sprawling out on his couch. It wasn't even like Tony's boss knew about him to call him, say "Hey, there's a problem". As far as this Gibbs was concerned, there was no one in Tony's life who would notice if he went missing.

David sighed and promised himself he'd give it one more day before doing anything drastic.

 **Thursday**

It was a little before five. Ziva and McGee were out chasing down leads, talking to the person who'd been the last one to talk to the person who'd been the last one to talk to the last person to see Tony, or something like that. Gibbs would have been with them, but he'd been sidelined by a meeting with Jen and was now stuck waiting for them to report in or for Abby to work some kind of tech magic on the damaged tracker to pick up where Tony might actually be.

The elevator dinged and a blond man walked off. He was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt. Gibbs saw a silver bracelet on one wrist, studded with some kind of green stone, and counted four different rings, plus a green stud in one ear. He was attractive enough, in a pretty sort of way, Gibbs thought, wondering why he was there. "Help you?" he asked casually.

The man walked over to him. "I'm David Stein," he said in a mellow tenor. "I'm...I'm looking for Tony DiNozzo."

Gibbs eyed him. "Why're you looking for him?" he asked.

"I'm a friend. He said he'd be in touch by Monday, and I haven't been able to reach him." Stein's voice was calm, but Gibbs caught the underlying worry.

A friend? Gibbs snorted inwardly. Yeah, and he was the King of England. If Tony was just friends with Stein, he'd eat his badge. "You drink coffee?" he asked, getting up from behind his desk.

Stein blinked. "Yeah," he said. "Why?"

Gibbs snagged his gun and his cell phone. "I'll buy you a cup. C'mon." He led Stein to the elevator and hit the button. Once they were halfway to the garage, he hit stop. "How long have you and Tony been dating?" he asked.

"Four months." Stein leaned against the side of the elevator. "Well, just about five."

He had to give Tony credit; he'd never have guessed DiNozzo was dating someone seriously for the past five months, let alone a man. Gibbs nodded. "Tony's undercover," he said. "Something went wrong and he's...we're not sure where he is." On the run from Cahill, who they'd caught yesterday. But Tony didn't know that, and didn't have a way to find out.

Stein took a deep breath. "Do you know--I mean--do you know if he's all right?"

"We know he's alive," Gibbs said. "And we're relatively certain he's in one piece and unharmed. I can't give you details."

"I know." Stein fiddled with one of his rings. "How close do you think you are to finding him?"

Gibbs shook his head. "We won't know until we actually find him."

"Great." Stein sighed. "Okay. Thanks."

Gibbs hit the start button again. "You and Tony meet through your job?" he asked.

Stein shook his head. "I'm a musician--a clarinetist with the Baltimore Symphony. We met through a mutual friend."

A classical musician? Gibbs could see Tony dating someone in a modern band, maybe, or a DJ or whatever, but a member of a symphony orchestra? Huh. Didn't quite fit. He shrugged.

The elevator let them out on the street. "C'mon," Gibbs said. "Coffee shop's only a block this way." He wasn't sure why he was still buying Stein a cup of coffee; he'd given him the information he could, there was really nothing else to say.

Except that Gibbs had sat with enough cop's wives and soldier's wives to know what Stein was going through. Five months wasn't that long, not in the scheme of things, but five months for Tony was practically an eternity. This was serious. And from the tension in Stein's body, the way he kept playing with his rings and his bracelet, this wasn't exactly casual on his side either.

They walked into the coffee shop. Gibbs didn't bother ordering; they knew what he liked. The woman behind the counter turned to Stein. "What can I get you?" she asked.

"Non-fat hazelnut latte, please," Stein requested. "Large."

Gibbs shot Stein a look. "Sounds like something DiNozzo would order."

"Yeah. I know." Stein smiled, a little wistfully.

They got their drinks and took seats at a table in the corner. This time of day, the coffee shop was pretty much empty, aside from someone working on a laptop at another table; Gibbs glanced at her and noticed headphones.

"So," Stein said. "What _can_ you tell me? Anything else?"

Gibbs shook his head. "I've told you pretty much everything I can."

"Right." Stein took a long drink of his coffee.

For a moment, they sat in silence. Gibbs sighed. "Look," he said. "I don't know what you're expecting out of this with him, but he's a federal agent. I don't care, but--"

"Yeah. I've already run into the closet door. Federal agent, quasi-military agency, blah blah blah. I'm not about to take him to Pride, okay? You don't need to worry." Stein took another drink of coffee. "It's been five months, and you didn't even know I existed. We're careful."

"You showed up at the office," Gibbs pointed out.

"He's _missing_ ," Stein snapped. "I couldn't just--" He gestured. "Anyway, anyone other than you probably wouldn't have put the pieces together."

Gibbs had to admit he was probably right about that one. Ziva and McGee were too convinced of Tony's addiction to women to believe anything else. Abby, maybe, but she and Tony were friends outside of the office. Gibbs took a sip of coffee and shrugged. "We _will_ find him," he said.

"Yeah. I know." Stein smiled a little, toying with his coffee cup. "He's talked about you. I know you won't give up until you find him."

"No, I won't." Tony was one of his, and he didn't give up on his people.

His phone rang, startling them both. "Gibbs," he said.

"Gibbs!" Abby sounded excited. "I have amazing news!"

"You got the tracker to work?"

"No. Not that amazing. But I've got some forensics you _really_ need to see."

"On my way. I'll be back in five." Gibbs hung up. "We might have something," he said, getting up.

Stein nodded and stood as well. "I'll walk back with you. My car's parked there."

The walk back was quiet, although Stein obviously had something on his mind. Gibbs let him chew it over, until just before they got back. He was about to say goodbye when Stein met his eyes. "You could have had him, you know," he said quietly. "I've seen the way he talks about you, the way he thinks of you. You could have had him."

Gibbs didn't bother with false denials, with protests they both knew were fake. He thought briefly of missed chances, of opportunities he'd deliberately let slip by. Tony wasn't for him. Not now, not anymore. "No," he said. "I couldn't."

He turned and went into the building.

Twelve hours later, they found Tony. Alive, unhurt--exhausted and bordering on dehydrated, but in all aspects that counted, fine. It took three hours for him to be debriefed and checked out by Ducky, and he was clearly about ready to fall over by the time Gibbs let him go.

"C'mon, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "I'll give you a ride home. You're on stand-down for the next two days--I don't want to see you around here for the next forty-eight hours, you got me?"

"Yes, Boss. Got it, Boss." Tony yawned hugely and followed Gibbs into the elevator.

"Your friend stopped by," Gibbs said on the way down to the parking garage. "He was worried about you."

"My--" Gibbs _saw_ Tony go white. "Oh. Um. We're just--"

"Save it for someone who either cares or doesn't know better," Gibbs told him. "I don't and I do."

"Right." Tony sighed. "You won't--I mean--"

"No, I won't," Gibbs said. "Far as I'm concerned, what you do on your own time is your own damn business, so long as it doesn't affect the job."

"Right. Okay. Thanks." Tony blew out a breath. "Can you--can you drop me by David's place? I'll give you directions."

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah."

"Thanks."

David lived in the northwest section of DC, off Connecticut Avenue. "I'm surprised he lives here," Gibbs said. "That must be an annoying commute." He pulled up outside David's building.

Tony shrugged. "He doesn't like Baltimore, and he doesn't mind the drive. Thanks for the ride, Boss."

"See you in two days." Gibbs watched Tony get out of the car and go inside.

As he drove off, he wondered how long it would be before the rest of the team found out about David. If they would. What that would look like.

He shrugged. He'd deal with that if or when it happened. For now, it was enough that Tony was back, and all right.

He was willing to bet David felt the same way.


End file.
